different between former vs primitive

English

Alternative forms

• fmr / fmr.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?f??m?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?f??m?/
• Rhymes: -??(?)m?(?)

Etymology 1

From Middle English former, comparative of forme (“first”), from Old English forma (“first”), descended from Proto-Germanic *frumô. Parallel to prior (via Latin), as comparative form from same Proto-Indo-European root. Related to first and fore (thence before), from Proto-Germanic.

Adjective

former (comparative form only)

1. Previous.

   • At half-past nine on this Saturday evening, the parlour of the Salutation Inn, High Holborn, contained most of its customary visitors. […] In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass.
3. First of aforementioned two items. Used with the, often without a noun.

Synonyms

• (previous): erstwhile, sometime, whilom, wont-to-be; see also Thesaurus:former

Antonyms

• (previous): next; see also Thesaurus:subsequent
• (first of aforementioned two items): latter

Translations

Etymology 2

form +? -er

Noun

former (plural formers)

1. Someone who forms something; a maker; a creator or founder.

   Dave was the former of the company.

2. An object used to form something, such as a template, gauge, or cutting die.

   The brick arch was built using a wooden former.

3. (chiefly Britain, used in combinations) Someone in, or of, a certain form (class).

   Fifth-former.

   Sixth-former.

Derived terms

• pan former

Anagrams

• Reform, re-form, reform

Danish

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [?f??m?]

Noun

former c

1. indefinite plural of form

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [?f??m?]

Verb

former

1. present of forme

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [f??me???]

Verb

former or formér

1. imperative of formere

French

Etymology

From Old French, borrowed from Latin f?rm? (“to form”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f??.me/

Verb

former

1. to form (generic sense)
2. to shape (to make into a certain shape)
3. to train; to educate

Conjugation

Related terms

• formation
• forme

Further reading

• “former” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Latin

Verb

f?rmer

1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of f?rm?

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

former m or f

1. indefinite plural of form

Verb

former

1. present of forme

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

former f

1. indefinite plural of form

Swedish

Noun

former

1. indefinite plural of form

Anagrams

• reform

English

Alternative forms

• primative (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old French primitif, from Latin pr?mit?vus (“first or earliest of its kind”), from pr?mus (“first”); see prime. Doublet of primitivo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p??m?t?v/
• Rhymes: -?m?t?v
• Hyphenation: prim?i?tive

Noun

primitive (plural primitives)

1. (linguistics) An original or primary word; a word not derived from another, as opposed to derivative.
2. A member of a primitive society.
3. A simple-minded person.
4. (computing, programming) A data type that is built into the programming language, as opposed to more complex structures.
5. (computing, programming) Any of the simplest elements (instructions, statements, etc.) available in a programming language.
6. A basic geometric shape from which more complex shapes can be constructed.
7. (mathematics) A function whose derivative is a given function; an antiderivative.

Synonyms

• word: primitive word, radical, radical word

Translations

Adjective

primitive (comparative more primitive, superlative most primitive)

1. Of or pertaining to the beginning or origin, or to early times; original; primordial; primeval; first.

2. Of or pertaining to or harking back to a former time; old-fashioned; characterized by simplicity.

   Synonym: backwards
3. (Can we clean up⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) Crude, obsolete.

   primitive ideas

4. (grammar) Original; primary; radical; not derived.

   Synonym: radical

   Antonyms: derivative, derived

   • 1831, Noah Webster, Rudiments of English Grammar; Being an Abridgment of the Improved Grammar of the English Language, New-Haven, p.6:

     Division of words. Words are primitive or radical, and derivative or compound.

     Of primitive words. Primitive or radical words are such as cannot be divided, or separated into parts which are significant; as man, hope, bless.

5. (biology) Occurring in or characteristic of an early stage of development or evolution.
6. (mathematics) Not derived from another of the same type

   Synonym: imprimitive

7. (linguistics, dated) most recent common ancestor (often hypothetical) of

   Synonym: proto-

   • 1933, Leonard Bloomfield, Language, Henry Holt, p. 13

     We infer that other groups of related languages, such as the Germanic (or the Slavic or the Celtic), which show a similar resemblance, have arisen in the same way; it is only an accident of history that for these groups we have no written records of the earlier state of the language, as it was spoken before the differentiation set in. To these unrecorded languages we give names like Primitive Germanic (Primitive Slavic, Primitive Celtic, and so on).

Derived terms

• multiprimitive
• primitiveness

Translations

References

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p?i.mi.tiv/

Etymology 1

See the etymology of the main entry.

Adjective

primitive

1. feminine singular of primitif

Etymology 2

By ellipsis of [fonction] primitive.

Noun

primitive f (plural primitives)

1. (mathematics) antiderivative

   Antonym: dérivée

See also

• intégrale

Further reading

• “primitive” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

primitive

1. inflection of primitiv:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Adjective

primitive

1. feminine plural of primitivo

Latin

Adjective

pr?mit?ve

1. vocative masculine singular of pr?mit?vus

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

primitive

1. definite singular of primitiv
2. plural of primitiv

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

primitive

1. definite singular of primitiv
2. plural of primitiv